We all know the cliche — comics character dies, only to arise from the dead some time later, usually when sales decline. Captain America most recently fell into this category, but the majority of big names come up against it eventually. I tried to come up with someone in super-hero comics besides Gwen Stacey and Uncle Ben Parker who died and stayed dead, but I couldn’t come up with much. Throw Norman Osborne as the original Green Goblin onto that list, and you quickly come to the conclusion that it’s best to steer clear of Spider-Man.

But then, maybe that’s one reason he stayed popular so long? Maybe.

Anyway, that brings us to this week’s Poll Position, only one day late (appropriate when talking about death, amiright?! Although, why do they say “The late Jeff Hebert”? Of course you’re late, you’re dead — you may never get there!):

With a heartfelt tip-o-the-hat to UGO Forums user RoboZ from waaaaay back in the day of 2003 (jeepers, I forget sometimes how long HeroMachine has been around!), your challenge for this week is to create a character who is the child of two established super-heroes. For instance, what might the super-powered child of Clark Kent and Hawkwoman be like (it was a long, boring night of duty on the JLA satellite station, let’s say)?

The rules are simple:

Create a character using any version of HeroMachine you like;

Post an image of that character on any publicly accessible web site (like PhotoBucket, ImageShack, the UGO Forums, etc.) and put the link to that image in a comment to this post;

Include the name of your character and a brief summary of who they are, who their parents were, and what their powers are.

I’ll pick the Finalists next Monday and put a poll up for people to vote for their favorite. The winner of that poll will receive any item they like, or a portrait of themselves, to be included in HeroMachine 3’s final release.

No limit on entries this week so knock yourself out! If you had one in that thread already, you can re-submit it to this contest, but it better not suck. And for the record, there are very few pre-HM3 illustrations that pass muster these days. It’s not impossible for a 2.x character to win, but I’m just sayin’, it hasn’t happened yet …

Thanks to everyone who entered Caption Contest 70, they were very funny! I have hand-picked what I consider the best entries, so now it’s your turn. The caption with the most votes by next Monday will win either any one item or a portrait of the writer to be included in HeroMachine 3. Good luck, everyone!

I am happy to announce that the HeroMachine community has decided that Hunters trump Hunteds, with the winning overall Hunter being “The Hunter” by Aegon Targaryen!

Aegon wins a black and white character portrait, so congratulations to him. That’s a really gorgeous drawing, easily one of the best submitted to any contest so far. Well done! I particularly appreciate the way he’s managed to make it look like the figure is aiming to his left, by scootching the face over a bit, and clever layering of the hair, ear, and antlers.

As for WHO he is hunting, that would be the overall vote winner in the Hunted poll, “XP45 Prototype” by Matt!

Matt wins any item of his choice, or a portrait of himself, to be included in HeroMachine 3. Congratulations, Matt, and thanks to everyone who entered!

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